THE CIRCLE OF FRUSTATION- By Jenn Dalen, Program Director for KG Country and Newcap Alberta South

Jenn Dalen is Program Director at KG Country 95.5 in Red Deer, Q91 in Drumheller, Q93.3 in Stettler, Q105.7 in Brooks, and Mountain Radio in Blairmore. She is an Alberta girl with a HUGE passion for country music!

Indie Connectors is fully aware of how frustrating it can be for an indie artist to obtain radio airplay. Jenn Dalen from KG Country in Red Deer, AB is a regular contributor to Indie Connectors, and she shares her insights into the Circle of Frustration that is radio airplay.

The Circle of Frustation

I had an interesting conversation with a couple industry friends the other day that went a little like this: “I can’t imagine being a budding artist…you’re working so hard to get your music on the radio…yet you’re constantly being told you’re not a big enough name.”

I liken it to trying to get hired for your first job. How many times were you told, “I’m sorry, but you just don’t have enough experience,” meanwhile you’re thinking, “well how do I get the experience if you won’t hire me?!”It’s the circle of frustration.

The other side

Not defending the radio programmer’s side, but take a second to understand it from our perspective. As programmers, we have a responsibility to our listeners; provide them with an engaging, entertaining, informative media that is enveloped by good music. We’re constantly being presented with research that indicates people prefer to hear songs by names they know. If we don’t provide our listeners with this, they’ll go somewhere else and in today’s world they have many different options. This is the challenge we face.

Is this what you want to hear? Absolutely not! But it’s the reality of things. So again, how do you get your music on the radio? I’ve said it before…I don’t have a secret formula for you.

Be patient, it takes time!

Forgive me if I sound a little preachy, but you need to be patient! Just because you release a song to radio doesn’t mean it’s going to garner airplay right away. Getting a song into rotation on our end can take a bit of time, especially if there’s a lot else on the market! I’ve seen a few instances where an Indie artist releases a song to radio and then 3 months later they are releasing another one just when the first track is starting to pick up steam. Keep this in mind when you’re setting up your radio plan – it could take up to 3 months to really start seeing those spins coming in.

This is why it’s important to have a reputable radio tracker working your song. You need to know how your song is doing and how radio programmers are feeling about the tune. A good tracker will be persistent with your track and help to keep it top of mind with radio. But again, please have patience!

Keep applying!

Much like applying for that first job, you just have to keep putting yourself out there until someone takes a chance on you. It’s going to be frustrating and sometimes you’ll feel like you’re going around in a circle. Unfortunately, there might be broken promises, friends lost, and a few tears shed, BUT in the end…it will all be worth it! If you don’t believe me, ask those who have lived it. Remember that nothing worth having comes easy so don’t give up if it doesn’t come right away.​